'We are part of the community': Hamilton sex-worker program set to open first physical site

Support services for sex-trade workers in Hamilton will soon have a brick-and-mortar space in the city's east end. 

The Sex Workers' Action Program (SWAP) of Hamilton is working to open its first in-person location near Barton Street and Lottridge Street, with a focus on providing support and community for sex-trade workers in the area.

Most of the services SWAP has offers — such as counselling — have been remote since its inception in 2018, executive director Jelena Vermilion said. "Now we'll have a consolidated space to offer counselling services in person, providing a more intimate personal experience during that session."

The space will also serve "as a hub for our archives, the resource materials that we provide and the storage space for our outreach program," Vermilion added. "Having that close to 'the stroll' will make it a lot more streamlined."

The lease for the SWAP location on Barton was signed April 19 and Vermilion said they hope to start providing in-person support services and community outreach in May.

SWAP has been working to provide remote counselling with Arleney Jane Pitts of Hustle Heal Motivate during the past year, and the psychotherapist registered social worker said that having this space will make the services so much more accessible. 

"People that need access are in the streets, people that need that human contact... may not even have a phone or computer," Pitts said. "This is going to change things so much and make a huge shift in access to sex workers in Hamilton."

Pitts said her personal lived experiences help her to show up in a way that is authentic for those looking for counselling services.

"A lot of social workers out there in this world want to be allies, sometimes they just don't get the needs of sex workers," Pitts said.

Though many of these allies have great intentions, "sometimes you just need to be from a certain light to get it," she said.

"Sex work is still criminalized in so many aspects and providing a space where sex workers can organize, meet and where they can actually create community is essential."

The local Business Improvement Area (BIA), representing the community of businesses in nearby Barton Village, features many service providers and SWAP will now be among them, says BIA executive director Jessica Myers.

"We welcome any new agency or organization that focuses on the health and wellbeing of our fellow Hamiltonians," Myers told CBC Hamilton, "especially those who tend to be marginalized."

Vermilion said that SWAP is committed to supporting community members, alongside other organizations like Grenfell Ministries, the AIDS Network and Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton and Area (SACHA), some of which are "harm-reduction groups as well and those who are working towards [Overdose Prevention Sites] right in the neighbourhood," Pitts said.